The Great Big Jill Day
You're invited to participate in what I'm affectionately calling "The Great Big Jill Day" on August 31st.
This is not a day intended to be full of mourning and wailing and pity parties.
Maybe you are related to Jill. Maybe you worked with Jill. Maybe you went to church with Jill. Maybe you only know her through her blog--which, you should really take the time to read from the beginning. Maybe you know her kids. Maybe you know some of her friends.
However if you know her, you know she is a big deal to a lot of us. And you know that a lot of us were forever changed by her.
To prime the pump, and to get you thinking,
Leave the one way you were changed comments below to share with the group--and if you cheat and leave 4 or 5 or 109238981275389.2 ways, I will force you to narrow it down at a later point.
But the powers that be won't mind too terribly much. We all have a lot to say about her.
More details to come. . .
This is not a day intended to be full of mourning and wailing and pity parties.
This is going to be a Great Big Day in honor of a Great Big Lady.
Maybe you are related to Jill. Maybe you worked with Jill. Maybe you went to church with Jill. Maybe you only know her through her blog--which, you should really take the time to read from the beginning. Maybe you know her kids. Maybe you know some of her friends.
However if you know her, you know she is a big deal to a lot of us. And you know that a lot of us were forever changed by her.
And when the 31st rolls around, I think she would want us to celebrate rather than cry.
Ok, she would be ok with us crying because we haven't forgotten her and because we miss her, but she would want us to be happy, too.
"If you had to speak of only ONE way that Jill Hollis changed your life, what would you say?"
Leave the one way you were changed comments below to share with the group--and if you cheat and leave 4 or 5 or 109238981275389.2 ways, I will force you to narrow it down at a later point.
But the powers that be won't mind too terribly much. We all have a lot to say about her.
More details to come. . .
After the loss of our son, Ayden, I began meeting with Jill. She and I felt it was fitting for us to form a friendship - I had experienced a tragic loss, and she was enduring one. We leaned on each other and shared our grief together. We quickly grew to love one another tremendously, and we formed a strong friendship and relationship as sisters in Christ. The one thing I learned from Jill: Death is not the end. Death is not to be feared, and the "falling asleep" of a believer is not to be mourned or despaired - it is a time of rejoicing and celebration! And I can honestly say that through the pain of losing Jill - I rejoiced for her and celebrated for her!! Looking forward to BIG JILL DAY!!
ReplyDeleteAlthough I only "knew" JIll through her blog and a few e-mail and comment exchanges, I KNEW she was a special woman. I envy those who were more personally involved in her life, but I am thankful I got a chance to "meet" her virtually. She is dearly loved and missed and never forgotten. There are many things I could say about how she touched my life, but one thing that really stood out was her transparency. I told her she wrote like the psalmist, true to what she was dealing with, good or bad, never mincing words, BUT ALWAYS, within the struggles, praising or worshiping God. Her focus was on the Lord to the end and now she celebrates with Him!!!
ReplyDeleteBut, again, she is missed!!! :(
I will be celebrating BIG JILL DAY!
P.S. I think you should post this on Jill's blog. There are many of us who still have her bookmarked on our blogs so that we can reread her beautiful words. I'm sure they would like to respond.
ReplyDeleteBethinNC
thanks for the suggestion, beth in nc!
ReplyDeleteJill was once my counselor at bible camp in North Carolina; when I was in college, we were counselors and teachers together on occasion. I still flip through her notes from our classes, so I can hear them being read in her voice like I remember.
ReplyDeleteJill changed my life just by being Jill. Everything she said was genuine, from her heart. She was another mom to me when my own and I weren't getting along.
When we taught at camp together, she used the Third Day song "Mountain of God" as one of her illustrations. The bridge of the song (let's be honest, the whole song) brings me to tears because of what she said about it:
"Sometimes I think of where it is I've come from
And the things I've left behind
But of all I've had, what I possessed
Nothing can quite compare
With what's in front of me "
Something she was known for saying was that if she were given two pills - Matrix-style - and could either choose to continue life with ALS or go back to "normal," she would choose to continue with ALS, no questions asked. Why? Because "nothing can quite compare with what's in front of me" - while that stupid disease may have had control of her physical body, it had no control over her path - being with her precious God. And nothing, nothing in the world, could compare to the glory of being with Him.
And that is why, if this little one in my belly is a girl, her name will be Jill. Because Jill will change /her/ life, too, just like she changed mine. She will give my little girl that same direction - God - just as she gave it to me those few years ago.